Goodbye Pond
by NarutoMinamino
Summary: Little Amelia Pond was about to give up hope that her Doctor wasn't going to come back in his blue box. [Spoilers for Angels Take Manhattan]


Goodbye, Pond  
Author: Naruto_Minamino  
Word Count: 1.326  
Rating: G  
Disclaimer: **MOFFAT!  
**Warning: feels, spoilers, hide sharp objects whilst reading.  
Summary: Little Amelia Pond was about to give up hope that her Doctor wasn't going to come back in his blue box.

Little Amelia Pond was about to give up hope that her Doctor wasn't going to come back in his blue box.

Little Amelia Pond… she had sat there in her yard in front of the shambles that had once been her Aunt's shed all night waiting for the churning noise that had taken him away. She had waited for that magnificent blue box that he said had a swimming pool in it all night long. It was cold outside and earlier she was okay, but now she was getting chilly.

But he said five minutes. He'd be back in five minutes.

Maybe he got caught up in something else. She didn't have a watch or a clock with her, so how was she to know how long she had been sitting there? He said five minutes, and she could trust him – her Doctor in the torn pinstriped suit. Her Doctor who promised her he'd take her with him to show him other planets.

A breeze kicked up and the churning noise filled her ears, finally. She was definitely going to give him a strict talking to when she saw him, especially when she'd see that silly grin he had – the same one he gave her when they'd eaten all the food in her kitchen earlier.

Finally, the blue box flashed in front of her, landing gracefully right in front of her so she could read the **Pull to Open **on the front. She smiled and sat up, moving her fist to her lap from where she had been leaning on it.

It landed and she waited, not knowing whether she should stay sitting or if she should stand up and grab her suitcase. She was about to stand up when the door swung open and the Doctor leaned out the door. He was dressed differently – in tweed and a bowtie – and his sight fell on her and his face broke into a sad smile.

"Oh," he said at a whisper. "Little Amelia Pond," he stepped out of the box and fell to his knees in front of her and pulled her into his arms, "Still waiting after all this time, _my_ little Amelia Pond."

"Doctor, is everything alright?" she asked. He pulled away from her and smiled up at her as he rested back on his heels. "Doctor, how long were you away?" She used a tiny hand to wipe his tears away.

"Long enough," he said with that same watery smile before his smile broke into a toothy grin. "Enough with this crying! Come, come, Amelia Pond, don't you think you've waited long enough?" He tugged on the hat she was wearing playfully as he stood up.

"Where are we going?" she asked, excitedly as she started pulling her hat back onto her head. "Planets? A different time? Where? Where?!"

He turned on his heel and started back towards the box, laughing at her eagerness, and stopped abruptly at the door before he turned around and looked back at the little girl - the little girl in her nightgown, coat, rubber boots, hat, and suitcase that's been waiting out here all night for him. He looked over his shoulder at her, hesitating, before he sighed and shut the door to the box. He turned around and reached out a hand to her. She took it instantly. He knelt down to her height and looked her in the eye before he kissed the back of her knuckles.

"It's getting late and you've got so much more to look forward to than me, Amelia. Let's get inside and have a bit of tea and then you can go off to bed." He felt guilty about getting her hopes up. Well… he was feeling guilty about her a lot today.

"What?" she looked confused. "But I thought – "

"One day," he said seriously, looking her in the eye. "One day I will take you anywhere you'd like. But not today. Today I'm going to tell you a story,"

"What kind of story?" she asked. If she was disappointed in the lack of adventure, she didn't look it. She looked just as happy about the prospect of spending time with the Doctor, the strange man who fell out of the sky and crash landed into her Aunt's shed.

"It's a bit of a Fairy Tale," he smiled, stood back up, and took her suitcase from her in his free hand. "Starring an amazing woman named Amy and her fearless husband-protector Rory Williams."

They took off towards the house hand in hand. Amelia would squeeze his hand to make sure he was real and the Doctor would give her a reassuring smile and squeeze her hand back.

She fell asleep with her head in his lap as he told his story. It had been a fantastic story about Centurions and Van Gogh and vampires in Venice and of metal men and creatures called daleks – the Doctor made funny voices to go along with each thing and he and Amelia had laughed and laughed.

She thought the story had been wonderful. He assured her that the things were all real, too, so that made it even _better_. It was the _best_ bedtime story she'd ever gotten. She fell asleep on accident, honest.

The Doctor set his tea cup on the nightstand beside him and let her sleep with her head in his lap for a while longer, happy with the silence that had fallen over them. He'd taken to running a hand through her hair as he spoke earlier and he couldn't stop now – what if that's what had lulled her to sleep to begin with? If he stopped now she could wake up and then he couldn't leave because he's just so terrible at saying goodbye.

This would be easy, he kept telling himself. This would be easy. She was asleep now, he could just leave.

But he was rooted to the spot on her bed sitting back against the headboard, legs crossed at his ankles, her head in his lap. Nothing could pull him away from this, not even if a dalek had appeared in her room and fired its gun at him.

Well, maybe that, but there was no way a dalek was going to appear in Leadworth at this time of night. Not in this particular bedroom, anyways.

He slowly, gently, pushed her head off his lap and placed another pillow under her head before he jumped off the bed and bent over her sleeping frame. He pushed some of her hair out of her face and smiled down at the peaceful face that he could now see.

"My Amelia Pond," he whispered as he bent down to kiss her on the forehead. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry," he whispered, kissing the top of her head with nearly every word. "I'm so, so, so sorry, my Amelia. I wish I could have done something… I wish you could forget all about me and live a normal life. I'm selfish – I made your life all about me, and I'm sorry I couldn't help you at the end."

"Doctor," she mumbled in her sleep, "Doctor, don't forget about me. We're supposed to go on adventures."

He laughed a shaky laugh and nodded before he sniffled. "And we will, Amelia, but not today. You have to be really angry with me, first."

And then he kissed her forehead again. He squeezed his eyes shut and ignored the tears rolling down his cheeks as he erased the past few hours from her mind so that he and he alone could have them.

"I am a selfish man, Amelia," he whispered to her, almost as if he were justifying it to her, "You shouldn't have faith in me. It'll be your downfall."

She slept on, unaware of his advice, however useful it was, "Goodbye, Pond," he whispered and placed one last kiss on the top of her head. "Goodbye."


End file.
